How I Came to Accept Guns to a Point

How I Came to Accept Guns to a Point

Article excerpt

I never liked guns. I didnt grow up around them, and while I
support deer hunting, I never saw a reason for anyone whos not a cop
or soldier to have a handgun, or semiautomatic, or anything other
than a hunting rifle. Those kinds of guns are made to kill people,
and no one should be killing people, except in the line of duty.

Then I met my fianc. He didnt have guns, but he had knives
mostly utilitarian, but a couple clearly designed for injuring
people. He is a professional machinist, and hes interested in
anything carefully crafted from metal. His most expensive knives
were in a safe, and he certainly didnt carry them or brandish them
or get them into any kind of situation where he would stab anyone.
He saw them as a classic example of a machinists trade.

Its weird, I thought, but I get it. Well-made gear is a lovely
thing, whether its camping equipment, or fishing tackle, or
furniture. Theres an element of design and care, and in the case of
Chriss knives, raw materials and handcrafting at the highest levels.

Then he bought a gun. A really scary-looking semiautomatic rifle
like those carried by soldiers in Kevlar. And I was upset, for all
the reasons I mentioned above. It seemed so unnecessary, and silly,
in a way. And theres always a risk of an accident or a theft.

Chris uses his gun to go to the range and target shoot. Hes a
good shot, and he enjoys it. And Ive gone with him, and it turns out
Im a good shot, and I enjoy it, too. Chris is obsessed with gun
safety: He never keeps it loaded, he always has the safety on, and
he has drilled it into me to never point the gun at anyone even if
its empty. Hes adamant that when we have children we will always
have a proper gun safe and trigger locks, and that we will teach our
child how dangerous guns are.

His affection for guns is just like his affection for knives.
They are masterpieces of engineering and mechanical design, and the
machining of quality guns is a real craft. For Chris, target
shooting is both a sport and a way to appreciate his own machinist
trade.

Im all right with his guns now, after a long period of discussion
with him. He is not planning to use the gun for self-protection, he
does not brag about having guns, he understands their potential
horror, and strongly dislikes shooter video games and movies that
glorify guns. …